3 more dead crows found to have West Nile virus

Arundel has had total of 7 infected birds this year

August 11, 2002|By Andrea Siegel | Andrea Siegel,SUN STAFF

Three more dead crows - these in the Annapolis, Brooklyn and Pasadena areas - were found to be infected with the West Nile virus, bringing to seven the number of birds in Anne Arundel County that tested positive for the disease this year.

Nevertheless, county health officials said Friday that the illness has not been detected in mosquito pools in the county. No mosquito spraying has been recommended to control the disease. Mosquitoes are carriers. Officials said they do not know where the birds were infected.

"Birds that die on your property could have been infected miles away," said Gerard A. Zitnik, the West Nile virus coordinator for the county Health Department.

The locations of the dead birds and when they were found are:

200 block of Fifth Ave. on Aug. 5;

700 block of Fairview Ave. on Aug. 1;

2100 block of Chesapeake Harbour Drive on Aug. 1;

200 block of Pike Road on Aug. 1;

1500 block of Marco Drive on Aug. 1;

First block of Wishing Rock Road on Aug. 2;

300 block of S. Carolina Ave. on July 24.

Zitnik said the county had only about half as many birds that tested positive last summer, and they were in September.

Most people bitten by an infected mosquito will have nothing worse than flu-like symptoms. But people who are weak or elderly can get encephalitis, a potentially fatal brain inflammation. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control reported more than 110 human infections across the country, with seven confirmed deaths in Louisiana and at least one probably due to the virus in Mississippi.

Officials urge county residents to reduce their risk of mosquito bites by not allowing standing water on their property and by wearing long pants and long sleeves outdoors.